Catch Him if You Can: NFL Star Travis Kelce Talks Life and Love

The bachelor and football player shares his secrets to success on and off the field, as his new dating show premieres on E!.

Kansas City Chiefs tight-end Travis Kelce is a self-proclaimed busy body. He’s always moving, always working and always keeping his eyes on the prize. The NFL star recently inked a lucrative five-year contract extension with the Chiefs, cementing his star power – but perhaps more exciting to the pop culture world is that Kelce just wrapped filming the series “Catching Kelce,” a dating reality show based on his quest for love, in which he selected from 50 women from all 50 states in the U.S. And according to reports, 27-year-old Kelce is currently in a relationship with the lucky winner.

With success on and off the field, Kelce has proven he has the mindset of a champion. 24Life recently had the amazing opportunity to sit down with the athlete to find out his passions, work ethic, daily rituals and more.

On football …

24Life: Outside of your training regimen, how do you get moving?

Travis Kelce (TK): I’m a pretty active body all day. In the training room, I’m all about the prehab and the rehab – which is the business aspect for me. But outside, I’m a wanderer. I love to walk, be active and see the sights. Being out in L.A. while filming [“Catching Kelce” was filmed in L.A.] was pretty cool, just to see different scenery, because I’m a Midwest guy. You can often see me walking around Kansas City or wherever I’m at just getting to know the place around me.

24Life: How do you recover and rejuvenate post-game?

TK: When you spend all day trying to get your body to reach its maximum athletic state, you’ve got to have a good prehab and recovery routine. That means beforehand, you’ve got to get warmed up. You start off by stretching right and also getting the proper nutrition. My golden rule is to never start a workout without having eaten a meal.
As far as recovery, you need to make sure you’re getting your protein and supplements. Everything you eat throughout the day should be nutritious, so shooting to a smoothie bar or something like that is good after your workout. Also, make sure you get water to flush out all the toxins that are trying to get your muscles nice and sore and stretch.

24Life: What’s the toughest part about being a professional football player?

TK: The toughest part about being a professional football player is probably doing interviews like this.

On mindset …

24Life: How do you keep your mindset where you want it to be as a professional athlete in a demanding sport?

TK: I feel like routine helps everybody. A smart, planned-out routine is the key to success, as well as hard work.

Everyone who wants to be successful needs to get a routine. The routine helps you stay on top, helps you keep your mind focused on the task at hand, and at the end of the day when you check off all those boxes, you feel success. And I pride myself on my “everyday checklist” that gets me where I want to be in my career.

On dating and love …

24Life: How do you expect finding a new love interest to impact your healthy and fit lifestyle?

TK: It’s easier for someone to train when they have other people around them — when they have other people with the same motives, same reasoning and same wants. It’s all aspects, not just the workout side, but the nutrition side as well. I need somebody to tell me, “No, you can’t have the cannoli, Travis. You can’t have the confetti cake today. You need to go do a couple more ab exercises.” And that’s just one aspect of it. As athletes, we’re looking for motivation nonstop, and I think that can come from a lovely lady.

24Life: What are your thoughts on the challenges of balancing a relationship with a demanding career?

TK: I feel like it’s the ultimate balance. Everyone wants that comfort at home, everyone wants that relaxation — somebody to be there to talk things through if it is a rough time or somebody to slap you on the head to make you come back to reality. There are two sides to that spectrum though, because while I feel like healthy relationships can make it easy for the field, you also have to make sure that you do not get distractions from the ones you love most.

On life and wisdom …

24Life: What’s the most helpful piece of advice that you’ve received?

TK: My father has always been a very prideful man. He is proud of who he is and where he has come from and that’s gone through the blood in my veins and been a huge influence on me.

But the best advice I’ve received is to treat yourself like a business. Everything that I do, the brand that I show, and the business aspect of the football is very important. You have to understand that and be able to separate the commercialized life with the regular life — having that mindset will make you want to come into work and do your best and give the best product that a team or an organization needs.

24Life: What’s one new thing that you want to learn or try to do this year?

TK: I’ve always wanted to try skydiving. We’re going to have to wait until the contract is over and I’m out of football for that, but that’s besides the fact. I’ve always wanted to skydive and that’s pretty much the only thing on the want list.

24Life: What’s something you’re passionate about outside of sports?

TK: Other than family, I’m passionate about fashion, about style, about how you present yourself to the world. I think that can show not only how creative you are, but can also present an image. That first look is almost as important as the entire meeting that you go through. It’s definitely something that I pride myself on.

24Life: What’s an inspirational message you’d like to share with people?

TK: Keep working. Just know that everybody goes through adversity, everybody gets hit with things in their lives. Don’t let the distractions deter you from what you want to do in life. We’ve all been at the bottom — and if you haven’t, don’t be surprised when you do. I hope it doesn’t happen to you, but at the end of the day, know that there is a reason for why you’re there and know that you need to keep moving forward.

To see Kelce in action, check out his Kansas City Chiefs football games and watch “Catching Kelce” on E! airing Wednesday nights at 9/8 Central p.m.